Free Republic

An intact mortar shell has been discovered at Scotland's Culloden Battlefield by a team of researchers led by Derek Alexander of the National Trust for Scotland and Tony Pollard of the University of Glasgow, according to a Scottish Field report. Fought on April 16, 1746, the battle marked the English government's defeat of Jacobite forces, who supported the return of the exiled Stuart king to the English throne after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The undetonated shell is thought to have been fired by government troops from a Coehorn mortar and then to have landed on boggy ground, where its...

Gas prices may be on the rise following the U.S. airstrike in Syria. Oil prices hit a one-month high on Friday after the United States fired missiles at a Syrian government airbase, sending shockwaves through global markets and raising concerns that the conflict could spread in the oil-rich region. As of Friday morning, the average per-gallon price for gasoline was $2.39, or an increase of about one penny from Thursday, according to gas tracking site GasBuddy.

But now a new reason has emerged why the royals might be a particularly interesting subject, with the revelation that they used to dine on human flesh. Kate and Wills will hopefully not follow the cannibal traditions of their ancestors (PA) According to a new book on medicinal cannibalism, written by University of Durham academic Dr Richard Sugg, well-off and well-educated Brits used to eat human flesh, blood and bones as medicine. This practice apparently took place in other parts of Europe as well up until the end of the 18th century. While referring to the barbarity of cannibals in...